Journey of a Midnight Soul
by tiger002
Summary: Post game self insert. Even after the worlds were reunited, danger still loomed. And what role does a mysterious half-elf have in the coming battles?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: In response to Regal Bryant Lover's challenge, I'm writing my own post game self-insert.

Rated T for violence, some suggestive themes, possible language, and probably something else I forgot.

Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, but I do own myself the last time I checked. I also own this chair, my wii, and a number of other things you don't care about.

Also, I must note that I'm a Christian, and since it is a self insert, it will show some. I'm not out to convert my readers through this, but now you know where I stand.

Now, to bad things happening to me.

_

Chapter 1: What the chicken wing with a side of icing

You know those moments, where all seems calm and perfect? When all the sounds and sights of nature combine in a wondrous harmony. Times like this, it feels like nothing could be wrong with the world. All the chaos from out there fades away as I come to this wondrous place.

Looking above me, a blackened sky is brightened by nothing but a thousand little stars. As I shift my gaze to the horizon, the darkness of night beings to fade into a midnight blue. Even further down, the blue turns into layers of yellow and orange. Through the spaces between the trees, I can see a line of bright red.

Before me sits a gentle lake, with reflections of the lights of nature, glistening on its surface. Its beauty combined with the sound of a fountain spreading the water across these depths calms my soul. In the distance, I can hear the choir of crickets awakening for the night.

This is one of the few times in the year were the weather is perfect. In the vastness of the sky above, not a cloud exits. It's not too hot or too cold, and everything seems perfect. A gentle wind blows across my body. I think back to my younger days, and how much I loved days like this. I remember calling wind like that a blue wind. It carried no destruction but just peace. I felt like I could fly by just running along side it. To fly through the endless blue skies, that's a desire I've had for as long as I can remember. Oh, to be young instead of an 18 year old college student.

I close my eyes to fully experience all nature has to offer. My senses awaken to the smell of freshly cut grass. How many times throughout the day, am I too busy to notice this subtle beauty? Complete contentment like this is something I rarely feel.

Opening my eyes, I gaze upon the vast body of water ahead of me. The sunset finally finishes fading beneath the reflection of the sea. I get up and decide I've wasted enough time just experiencing the solitude of nature. I gaze across the lake at the other buildings when I notice something is wrong.

They. Aren't. There.

I'm not in front of just a lake anymore, but a vast ocean.

I glance to the library behind me, just to calm myself. It isn't there either. The BTS isn't on my right either, and the ENS on my left is gone. Instead, there are many more trees then I remember being there.

Okay, calm down Tiger. You probably just got a bit into nature. Just close your eyes, and when you open them, and you'll be back on that bench.

I do just that and close my eyes.

When I open them again, I'm still not back.

Umm, this is not good. Okay, I just need to think about this logically, and it will all make sense. Take things one at a time, and I can figure this out.

Where was I before I was here? Sitting on a bench in front of our lake admiring nature. So how did I get here? Umm, I HAVE NO IDEA! Let's see, what are the possibilities? Well, I could be dreaming.

Yea, that makes sense. Okay, that means I just need to wake up. I blink trying to open my real eyes several times, and, absolutely nothing changes. I just need to pinch my self then.

And, only pain.

Therefore, that rules out dreaming. What else is there? Well, maybe this is just a hallucination. That would make sense. I've heard drugs could do strange things. Although, I don't recall taking any. Maybe one of my friends did it. I haven't known them long, but I don't think they are the people to use them either. So this probably isn't drug induced.

Maybe I just lost my mind. That would make sense. Some people have called me mentally unstable before, so maybe I've gone completely insane this time. Although, if I was insane would I be able to think about all these things logically. This logic could only seem logical because I've lost all sense of logic. Grr, this is hurting my brain.

This could all be real. It might seem improbably, but someone famous once said that when you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth. So that would mean someone knocked me out and moved me here, or some weird time travel/worm hole. I love the latter two, but that's only in TV shows and fan fiction. It's much harder when I'm the victim of it than when I can walk away and play Symphonia.

I got it. I'll call my roommate and he can help me. That's assuming I still have my cell phone. I check my pocket and it…

Is not there. Crap. Well, maybe the other pocket. Woot!

However, no reception. Apparently, I have a new text message.

_"Hey was up? Rachel."_

Oh, not much, I'm in some strange place and have no idea where I am, so overall, I've been having a marvelous night.

I guess I should try to figure out where I am, and what is going on. Well there is the ocean in front of me, and the forest behind me. I can't swim that well, and I have no idea how far a shore is. I also am not into hiking through the wilderness, but at least I won't drown.

Murphy's Law, don't quote me on that.

The dark forest of hopefully answers, here I come.

_

That tree looks familiar, I'm sure I've seen it before. It wouldn't be as bad if it was bright out, then I would at least be able to see where I was going. Then again, I still would have no clue where I was, or where I was heading, but at least I wouldn't keep running into branches. I swear, I've tasted more leaves in the past hour than the rest of my life. So as you can guess, things couldn't be better.

I hear the bushes rustle, so that means there is something, or if I'm lucky a person. Although, knowing my luck, it would be a thief or a ferocious animal. I reach in my pockets for something to defend myself, but all I find is my wallet, cell phone, and keys. Well I could try cutting it with keys, but I'm not sure that would work too well.

"Who's there?" I ask and I hear more leaves rustle. "I'll warn you, I'm a black belt in karate," I lie. I just hope he/she/it doesn't test my bluff. The creature jumps out of the bush, and in the dim light of the stars, I can identify it.

Aww, a doggy. He's so cute. What? I have a soft spot for dogs. Except, that thing is bigger than a dog, and much more rugged. Crap, it's a wolf.

I take off as fast as I can, and it pursues me. I have to find somewhere to hide. The problem is, this wolf is faster than me, has a better sense of smell, and knows this forest. In other words, I'm screwed

Looking ahead, I see a low branch, and leap over it. However, being the master of coordination that I am, my shoe get's caught and I slam my face into the ground. Ignoring the pain in my face, I get up and grab branch pulling it out. As the wolf approaches, I release my weapon, and it slams into the beast, knocking it to the ground.

"Ha, take that forces of nature. Human intelligence has defeated you." I regret my choice to stay there watching my triumph, as the creature gets onto his feet. "Except that only made you angry." I catch a quick glance of blood on its face before turning and going as fast as my tired body will take me.

In case you didn't realize this, I was not made for things like this. Give me a math problem and I'm good. Tell me to write a story, and I can do it. Tell me to run for my life, and bad things will happen. Curse me being a nerd!

As I jump over another downed branch, I hear the growls of the wolf only a couple feet away. I now see I can't outrun it and outsmarting it didn't work. That means I have only one choice left.

"Have at thee fire demon!" I say as I prepare to fight for my life, and probably die. I turn, thrusting my foot into the wolf's side. I can feel its bones snap, and for a second I feel sorry for it. Then I realize it's still trying to kill me. It jumps at me and brings its claw across my arm before I can react.

Holy crap! My arm is bleeding profusely and hurts like something really painful that I can't don't even know how to describe! I fumble backwards, tripping over something, and hit my head against a tree. The wolf slowly approaches me, while I am cornered. So I guess this is how it ends for me. I expected to live a bit longer, or at least having a more memorable death. Maybe something like dying saving people from a burning fire, or maybe something funny like accidentally falling out an airplane. God, why such a boring death?

"Ray thrust!" I hear a voice call out. Opening my eyes, I see I'm not dead, and the wolf is running away.

"Thanks random person who saved me!"

"He he, no problem." That voice sounds familiar, but before I can figure out who it is, I realize there are more important things, like the fact I'm constantly losing large amounts of blood.

"You wouldn't happen to have a couple industrial size Band-Aids, would you?"

"No sorry," she says in a very joyful voice. "Why?"

"That wolf slashed my arm, and it hurts really badly."

She comes a little closer and I can notice her blond hair through the dim light. "Oh no, you need to get back to town."

"Sorry, but I have no idea where that is, or even where we are."

"Don't worry, I can take you," she says helping me up by my good arm. "I'll carry you so we can get there faster." Did she just say she would carry me? I don't know if she realized this, but I'm not exactly the lightest person around, and she doesn't look that strong.

I feel myself standing on my feet as she holds on to my wrist.

I feel my feet leaving the ground.

I feel myself continue to rise though the air.

The logical part of my brain has apparently gone to the store for a quart of milk because the only thing that escapes my mouth is. "What the chicken wing with a side helping of icing is going on?" I see a purple light form a couple feet from my face.

I would contemplate the strangeness of this, but my head begins to feel heavy and the rest of my body goes numb. Maybe after a good nights sleep, I'll feel better.

_

A/N: And now you know what happens when I don't have author powers to protect me. In the story, I do know about the game, but he hasn't discovered where he is yet. This takes place 3 months after the game, and while I don't have this all planned, I have the first few chapters planned_**.  
**_


	2. Chapter 2

Ouch, the back of my head is killing me. Darkness surrounds me, so I have no idea where I am or what I'm doing here. Opening my eyes might be a good idea.

Ouch. Brightness. Bad idea.

I close my eyes, and I hear a collection of voices near me, but I'm in too much pain to hear much of it.

"Sorry…wall."

"…worry…lette"

"He's…us…"

I'm lying on my back, but as I shift onto my side, my arm begins screaming out in pain. Ah, that's right, the wolf. I'm starting to remember now. The strange forest, the wolf chasing me, and that strange Frisbee girl saving me. That still doesn't explain why my head is hurting. Unless I hit my head and that caused me to hallucinate all that. That might make sense. Maybe I can think more after some more sleep.

_

I see myself over a great valley, with clouds all around me. A brisk breeze blows across my face. While I want to hide from the cold, it has an invigorating feel to it. I begin walking through the air, as the wind grows stronger. "Where I am?" I call out in confusion.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single footstep."

"Who said that?"

"I can remember asking those same questions when I first arrived."

"Did you also not get any logical answers?" I ask in frustration.

"As a matter of fact, yes," he said laughing. He began walking along the clouds to meet me. To my surprise, he looked to be no older than me, possibly a few years younger. "My name is Sydney, a guardian of truth."

"A who what of what who now?"

"Yea, they really shouldn't bring people here as they fall unconscious." I'm starting to get tired of this. Can't I get some straight answers? Although at a time like this, I have a feeling things aren't going to be that simple.

"So, what is going on here?"

The stranger, Sydney I believe, held his hands together and looked at me with a very stoic expression on his face. "Think back to when you were young. As long as you've remembered you've dreamed about seeing worlds beyond your own."

"Like my day dreaming about digimon?"

"Exactly, for most people the line between fiction and reality is a definite line, but you see how they aren't as separate as most would think."

He seems to know me better than I know myself. I've always dreamed about these worlds and wondering what would happen if things went differently. But those were just dreams, weren't they?

"Space, time, and thought, these blend together much more than any mortal can conceive. Even we only see a small part of it."

"Who or what are you?"

He lowers his head and I can see him contemplating his answer. This just raises my curiosity more. However, as he opens his mouth to answer, the clouds consume us, blocking out any noise.

_

"Sydney, where are you?" I ask, apparently to no one as I see I'm back in the bed I was in earlier.

"Are you okay?" a silver haired woman said running into the room. She places her hand against the side of my head and the pressure added to my headache.

"I'm okay Raine, just don't do that."

"How do you know my name?" she asked taking a step back. It's not a hard question. She's the healer from the game Tales of Symphonia.

Wait a second.

Raine Sage is standing over me, tending to my wounds. I just saw a blond haired person with purple wings that fights with Frisbees. That sounds like Colette to me. Okay, it seems a hallucination, insanity, or wormhole has taken me into my favorite game. I see logic is still intact.

"How do you know me?" Raine asked again.

She'd think I was crazy if I told her the truth, that or try to dissect me, and no offence to science, but I prefer my internal organs to stay internal. "I heard your name from Colette."

"Oh, I see, and where are you from?" I can detect suspicion in her voice, but that seems normal for her. Well, I guess somewhere far from here would make sense.

"Um, Luin."

"We don't get many travelers from there," she says, "since most people are busy rebuilding it."

Okay, so that means that Luin was destroyed so that means this is after the game. This means I have no idea what is going to happen. Just great… "Yea, I was traveling but then I found myself by the ocean where Colette found me."

"Well, I've been able to heal your arm, but you should rest a few days until your head gets better."

"I don't remember hurting my head during the battle."

Raine chuckles slightly as she looks to the doorway behind her. There is a somewhat circular hole there. "Colette means well, but sometimes she gets too excited. She accidentally swung your head through the wall there." Leave it to Colette to do something like that. Her clumsiness was comical in the game, but not when I'm the victim of it.

"That's fine. She saved my life back there and I really appreciate it." My life was in danger. That's something I've never experienced before. Not knowing if I'd live to see tomorrow really is a strange sensation. Tomorrow has always been a given for me. Normally I wouldn't have a doubt in my mind that 24 hours from now, I'd still be alive, but if it weren't for Colette, I might not be. This is not something a college freshman normally thinks about.

"Well, if you need anything, my brother Genis or I will be here. In fact, he's cooking dinner now so if you're hungry you're welcome to join us."

At that, my stomach loudly made its desires known. And if this Symphonia is like the game, Genis is a good cook. Maybe being here could be fun.

I try getting up but once again, the pain in my head stops me. Raine pushes me back into the bed. I guess I got up too fast there. "Just stay here for now. You don't want to push yourself too hard. It will be a while until dinner is ready."

I agree and try to get conferrable so I can get some more rest. The professor leaves the room and I can hear her arguing with her brother as I drift back to sleep.

"No Raine, that is enough red salty."

"But I think this could make it better."

"We don't want to kill him. Trust me, I can handle this."

Stomach, I'm sorry if Raine causes bad things to happen to you. For the sake of all things good and edible, please let Genis be the one to cook.

I stare up at the ceiling and realize that the wood forms an interesting pattern. There are so many circlely circles in there. The circles begin to fade as they spin. The circlely circles spin in a circle. You know, circle is a funny word if you say it enough. Funny circles! Good night circles.

_

I'd recognize that smell anywhere. Fried chicken, but not too fried that it isn't good. I get up from my bed excited to eat my mom's home cooking, but then I remember two important things. One, my mom doesn't cook chicken this good, and two, I'm in Symphonia.

I carefully get up, and the room spins around me. I can do this, small steps and hold on to something. Just follow the smell of the cooking and everything will be all right. My head still feels like it's going to explode, but this time I can walk, slowly, but it's still walking.

As I go into the room where the awesome cook is practicing the sacred arte, my desire to run over there and eat the entire chicken is nearly too much to restrain. "That smells great, Genis."

"Oh, Tiger, when did you get up?"

"When that caught my attention. Screw your sisters healing; just put one of those near the injured and they'll get back on their feet."

Genis chuckles slightly. "It might not be safe for you to have something like this after just recovering from your injuries."

I've survived on college food for the past month, so I think my stomach can handle anything. "Something that good is worth taking chances on." My legs still feel weak so I'm leaning against the wooden wall. My body is telling me to lie back down, but I hate just doing nothing all day. "How long have I been unconscious for?" I ask as the mage sets the fried chicken on the table.

"Well Colette brought you here about 1 AM last night and it's 7:30 PM now."

"Wow, so over 18 hours."

"Yea, take a seat, you look like you're about to collapse."

I feel like it too, so I sit down at the Sage's kitchen table. There house isn't anything vast, but it's a lot more than what is seen in the game. There was the bedroom I was laying in, the kitchen here, I can see a sitting room with a lot of books, and what I think is another bedroom off that. I guess that they didn't have time to program every little detail into a game. How is a game based of a whole other world like this though?

"Raine should be back soon and then we can eat?" Thoughts of food once again push away any thoughts of multiple dimensions. I can think about that when I'm not as hungry.

"I hope she gets back soon." Just remember Tiger, it's rude to eat all of the hosts' food before they get the chance to have a bite.

"Were you traveling alone?" he asks me.

I haven't had time to think about that. I could just tell them where I'm really from, but they probably wouldn't believe me, especially since I don't even know what's going on. For now, I think I'll just go with my Luin story.

"Yea, I was alone."

"Even thought things are starting to change, it's not wise for half-elves to travel alone."

Did he just say what I think he said? "Half-elf?"

"Yea, it's not hard to recognize my own people." Okay, so now, I'm in the world of my favorite game, about to eat dinner with two of them, and apparently, I am no longer human. This makes perfect sense. At this rate, my friends will become normal; I will denounce all technology, and not hurt myself in ways that perplex others.

"Dinner looks good," Raine says as she walks into the house, "I still say you should use more red salty.

"We can try that another time," he nervously replies, "or not at all," I hear him mumble.

With the three of us at the table, it's time to eat. Mouth, meet chicken; chicken meet mouth.

_

**A/N: While this isn't my main project, I'm still having a lot of fun writing it. This is one the few stories where I can combine suspense and a good adventure with my trademark sarcasm. I plan to include most of the heroes from the game, but I'm not sure what all their roles will be. Anyway, please review.**


	3. Chapter 3: A lesson in magic

Chapter 3: A lesson in magic

A chilling breeze blows through the leaves around us. One thing I always loved about fall back on earth was the beauty of the changing leaves. The Isealia forest around me here is even greater. Bright reds, oranges, along with some greens bask against the bright blue-sky fill my sight no matter where I turn. The brisk fall air makes me feel alert, and ready for whatever this world throws at me.

Moreover, in its everlasting logic, this world has decided to throw at me, me longer being human. Being the half-elf that I am though, I've decided it would be a good idea to learn magic.

"Okay for explosion, you allow your manna to focus in one spot, and then release it to the sky. You then convert it to fire, and bring it down in one huge blast," Genis explains to me.

"Could we start with something simpler?"

"Like what?"

"Fireball maybe?"

"Really, even half-elves that don't practice magic can still do that one." Thanks Genis…

"I'm not like most half-elves you'll meet." How many of them were a human less than a week ago? All things considered though, things haven't been too bad. In the three days since I woke up, I've been amazed by the kindness of the Sages and Colette.

Colette has come to visit me everyday to see how I was doing. She keeps apologizing for slamming my head through the wall, no matter how many times I tell her it's okay. After she saved me, how mad could I be at her?

After I got over Raine's suspicions, we've gotten along well, especially since I'm willing to learn about the history of Sylverant. It's a bit confusing, but when I have nothing better to do while I heal, I might as well learn about where I am and how to get back.

"You've never used magic before?" he asks which wakes me out of my thoughts.

"Nope, I've never had someone even teach me the basics."

"What about your parents?"

"It's a long story with them." I figure it's safer to be vague about my past, at least for now.

"Well, okay, close your eyes and focus on the mana around you."

I do as he says, and try focusing, even though I'm not really sure what it feels like. I can feel there's a weight to the air, but it energizes me. This must be mana. "Okay, now what do I do with it?"

"Well, you know about the 8 elements right?"

Knowledge of the game is helpful sometimes, even I don't know what's going to happen. "Yea, fire, water, wind, light, thunder, earth, ice, and darkness."

Genis' eyes widened. Apparently, I'm not as clueless as he thought. Actually, I probably am, but that's beside the point. "Um, yea. Okay, what you have to do is gather that mana into you, and then convert it to fire."

I can sense the mana in the air around me, but I don't see how to manipulate it. "Try grabbing it with your mind."

I reach my hand and will the mana to flow around my hand. It takes everything I have, but I can feel it bending to my will. The energy seems concentrated, around my hand, but it feels like it wants to spread out.

"Okay, you've started to get it, now just let it continue to fill your hand until you have a large amount."

"You want me to gather more? I can barely hold what I have now."

"Wow, you must suck."

"Thanks Genis." How can it be so easy for him? This is impossible to gather even a small amount of the mana. He's able to unleash massive spells like indignation easily, while I can't even unleash a fireball. This is pathetic.

"Well, it might help if you had a weapon to focus the mana, but it won't help you much until you learn the basics."

"Like how you use your kendama?"

"Yea, I gather the mana into the kendama, and then once I have it built up, I convert it into the necessary element to unleash the spell."

"Any advice on gathering it though?"

It takes him a while to respond. I can tell he thinks I'm a pathetic mage, and I'd have to agree with him. I mean, I didn't expect to be casting meteor storm right away, but I didn't think it would be this hard.

"Well, are you trying to pull it into your hand?"

"Yea, isn't that what I'm supposed to do?"

"That's why you're having so much trouble then. It's much easier if you just hold onto it as it flows around you. If you are able to focus solely on holding it, you should be able to gather more."

I do as he says and surprisingly it works. Just by holding onto what flows around me, it continues to build. I can feel the power all around me, but I know this is only a fraction of the strength of this mana. I've seen what this power could do in the game, so I had better be careful with it. Once I get more experience, then I can cause big booms!

"Okay, that should be enough to cast a simple spell," he says, and in less then a second, he gathers the same amount of mana in his hand. Way to be a showoff you little mage. "Now, one of the simplest spell is fireball. You need to convert that mana into fire than you unleash it."

"So how do I do that?"

He chuckles slightly, "I guess I expected you to ask that. Anyway, close your eyes and picture a fireball in your mind." I do and I see a faint flame against a black background, "Okay, now enlarge it, and imagine it with all your senses." It's growing larger, and I can almost hear it cracking. The smell of wood burning seems to feel my nostrils. The heat is growing and I fear it could burn me if it gets much bigger. "Okay, I think you have it. Now overlay that image on the mana in your hand."

I picture myself holding the flame in my hands I can fell the heat it my hands building. "Like this?"

"Yea, I think you have it. Now open your eyes."

I do, and the sight of fire in my hand amazes me. I can't believe I did it; I made fire. It might only be a small flame, but I did it. This is so awesome.

"Wait," he says and nervously looks around…

"I do something wrong?" Maybe he's discovered that I'm really the most awesome mage to ever grace his presence. Yea, I know that can't be it, but I can dream, can't I?

"No, I must have just heard an animal in the woods." He doesn't seem convinced of that answer. "Now for the last part of the spell, releasing it."

I nearly forgot that I had this fireball in my hand. Maybe I should pay more attention so I don't set the forest on fire. "So how do I do that, teach?"

"You know how've been holding the mana in place?"

"Yea?"

"Release it while pushing the mana out."

I hold my palm out, and let my grip on the mana fade. As I try pushing it, I see the fireball burst from my hand. It collides into a nearby tree leaving a small charred mark.

"Nice, you actually pulled it off."

"Maybe I'm not completely hopeless after all."

"I wouldn't go that far, but at least you were able to execute a spell."

"So, time for ground dasher?" We both laugh. I know I'll be lucky not to set myself on fire with this, but maybe I can become competent one day.

Rustling in the bushes all around us, catches our attention. "Tiger, you heard it that time, right?" he whispers to me.

"Yea." I notice him gathering the mana around him. It's a much more powerful spell this time. If someone wants a fight, they'll get one.

"Show yourself!"

I began gathering mana in my hand again. If this becomes a fight, I don't want to slow him down. I know I'm nowhere near as strong as him, but maybe I can at least defend myself.

Several swordsmen emerge from the bushes. They slightly remind me of the renegade warriors, but better armored. "Lay down your weapons and come with us if you want to live."

"Apparently you don't know who you're messing with." Genis quickly gathers mana for another spell. "Freeze lancer!" he says firing his attack at them. The ice slices through their armor, sending two of them to the ground. Their apparently leader is still standing, but his blood pours through the openings in his armor.

"Men, come out and take them alive."

Soon we are surrounded by no less than 20 warriors. They completely surround us.

"I'll make an opening then you need to run."

I don't want to run though. We both know I'll be useless in a battle, but I can't just leave Genis here. I can't let him just die though. There might be a way for us to both get away safely.

"Okay, that might work."

"Engulf these pathetic souls, ground dasher!" The earth seems to explode around the swordsman, blowing them away in a fury of rocks. "Now go!"

"Got it." I bend down, lift the half elf off the ground, and begin running.

"What are you doing!?"

"Getting both of us out of here." I may not be the fastest runner, but I'm able to run while avoiding the dead bodies and escape into the forest before the others can reach us. After a couple minuets of running, I set Genis down and take a few heavy breaths. Note to self, work on endurance.

"That wasn't part of the plan."

"Hey, we both got out of there unharmed, right?"

A sharp pain erupts in him shoulder sending me to my knees. There is a spear lodged into my shoulder. Not good. My blood pours out and I'm getting light headed. This is bad.

"You okay Tiger?" Really, Genis? Yea, I'm perfectly fine and dandy. I've had a lovely day with my friends today, and my life isn't in any danger. I also am living in a world with indoor plumbing.

"No! This hurts and I'm getting really sleepy."

My vision is becoming cloudy but I can still make out several of the warriors coming through the forest after us. I fall to the ground as Genis begins casting spells in their direction. Soon though, I'm gone.

A/N: Well, as you can see, Tiger is useless in a fight. This isn't going to be one of those inserts where the he becomes stronger than the heroes for no apparent reason. Once my life becomes slightly less hectic I hope to focus on this fic. Review please?


	4. Chapter 4: Jail Break

**Chapter 4: Jail Break!**

I'm startled awake by the sound of dripping water. My back hurts against the hard surface I'm laying against. I try moving my arm but it won't respond, and it's the same with my legs. I hate when I'm so sleepy and tired that I can't even more my body.

Okay, just a couple minuets and it will come back to me; I just need to take a few deep breaths. Feeling is starting to return to my body. Get ready world, here I come.

I go to sit up, but my body remains glued to my bed. I open my eyes to assess the situation.

Wait, did I forget how to how to open my eyes? I move my hand in front of my face, and can barely make out the image in this complete darkness. Moving my hands around more, I notice a cold metal surface below me, and a metal bar across my chest. That would explain why I was unable to get up.

"Looks like he's finally awake," a voice says from around me.

"It's only been two days," another voice says, and he shall now be known as voice two.

"Yea but the silver haired one woke up in less than a day." Wait, silver hair, is voice one talking about Genis? I hope he's all right. Maybe I can blast them with some fire and get away. Then again, either they'd impale me with some sort of sharp object or I'd trip over a fly and kill myself.

"Well, I doubt we can get much money out of this one, so should we just kill him?" voice two says. I don't like that idea. Dieing is not on my list of things to do today.

"Nah, after all the effort we went though to capture them, it would be a waste." I let out a sigh of relief. I'm not going to die, at least not yet.

"So Halfling," voice one says to me, "I'm sure you'd like to know what's going on here."

"Yea, what happened?" As I speak, I notice my throat is extremely dry. I can barely talk, but I need to learn what's going on here.

"We've been tracking your friend for a while. The king made the foolish decision to free those sub-humans from their research. We can't afford to let all the hard work over the years go to waste. The Tethe'allans can't fall to the level of those barbarous Sylveranti." So, I guess things aren't perfect after the worlds combined. I guess it's to be expected though.

"What do you plan on doing to us?"

"There are several possibilities," voice one explains, "Our job was simply to find powerful half-elves and turn them in to Lord Orion."

"Jason, stop telling him everything," voice two commands.

"Come on Andrew, it's not like this weakling can do anything to stop us. He didn't even try fighting back." Sadly, they are right. Even if I had the time to charge fireball, it probably wouldn't have done anything.

"True, now let's go pay that brat back for killing our comrades." After hearing them unsheathe their blades, I knew things could go badly for Genis. Obviously, they had been able to capture both of us, no doubt due to my weakness. If I can somehow get out of here, maybe I can find Genis and get us both out of here. I know I can't fight, but if I get to Genis undetected, we might stand a chance. That would first involve me getting out of here, something that won't be easy.

I try struggling against the metal that's holding me, but to no avail. I'm more awake now, so maybe I can use my magic to help. As I concentrate on the mana to unleash fireball, absolutely nothing happens. I guess I'm just a pathetic mage after all. Maybe I can somehow slide out of this restraint. I try to pull my chest down through it, but it won't budge. I push myself against the metal bed, trying to get some space to move but to no avail.

All of a sudden, I notice a familiar presence in the room. "Less than a week here and you already need rescuing?"

"Sydney, what are you doing here?"

"Considering we are at least partly responsible for this, it's only right we help you out some." He unlocks the guard keeping me restrained and helps me back to my feet. As I get up, I notice that my shoulder still hurts from the spear that was in it. It seems to have mostly healed though since I'm able to move it.

"Anyway I can just go back home now? I've learned what ever lesson there is like me not taking things for granted."

"Tiger, I think you've been watching too much TV. This isn't just a simple lesson for you."

"Then what is this?"

"Follow me," he says opening the door. Is it just me or did he completely avoid my question? I just stand there hoping for some explanation. He goes out of the room, and I guess he's leaving me in the dark in more that one way.

I run to catch up to him, and we exit into a bright hallway, that forces me to close my eyes. They had gotten used to the dark for so long so this much light is too much. "Don't worry; your eyes will adjust soon."

"The prisoner is escaping," a guard says as about a half dozen approach our location.

"I recommend you back down," Sydney said as he ran his hand through his brown hair. "I'd rather not have to kill you."

The guards unsheathe their swords and I take several steps back putting Sydney in the middle of us. I really hope he knows what he's doing. A white glow around him answers my questions and a sword comes out of nowhere that he grasps. "I repeat, retreat if you want to live."

They charge at him, but he blocks their attacks, and in a swift movement, slices his blade through several of them. "Prison break!" one yells, and soon sirens go off throughout this place.

"They're going to catch us."

"Mental strike, lure," Sydney says as a flash of light burst from his body. It didn't seem to harm the soldiers any, but magic can seem that way at first. "That will make them go after me and hopefully ignore you. Go find Genis and get out of here."

"Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Don't worry my friend. I'll see you again soon."

Running away, I can hear the clash of steel behind me. I've seen how strong he is, but I hope it will be enough. He seemed to know what he was getting into though. Unless…

Maybe he's just doing this so I can escape. I stop and think about running back to save him. He could know we don't have anyway out, so he's just doing this to save my life. I don't want him to die though. Even if I went back, it wouldn't make much of a difference. I'd just die too, and then his sacrifice would be in vain. I hope that I'm wrong and we'll both get out alive, but it still worries me.

I continue running down the corridors, but fatigue is continually persuading me to slow down. I can't let it stop me though, I won't fall this easily.

A scream of pain stops me in my tracks. It sounds just like Genis. I take off toward to source and more screams fill the air. Hang on buddy, I'll be there soon.

His cries of pain, lead me to the room they are keeping him in, and I slowly open the door. "Anaka, heal the whelp again so I can keep on attack him."

"Even my magic won't keep him alive if this continues for much longer."

"Don't worry, I know that. I'm just having some fun."

"Just remember Jason, Lord Orion will cut off your money if you kill such a valuable asset."

"Yea yea, are all you elves so stuck up?" I slowly sneak into the room and see Genis strapped to a wall. Jason is holding a sword covered in the half-elf's blood with an elf holding a staff beside him. Her gold hair reminds me of all the fantasy stories about elves back on earth, but it's obvious she's just helping that jerk torture Genis. They will pay.

I look around the room for something I can use as a weapon since I'm unarmed, and can't use magic well enough to fight my way out of a paper bag. This room looks like a chemistry laboratory with various chemicals and potions around the room. I sneak behind the counters, hoping to avoid the gaze of their captors. I look at the containers on the counter, and notice a container labeled sodium. There is also a sink nearby. I hope I remember this correctly…

I quietly fill another glass with water, grab the container of sodium and then run at Genis and his captors.

"Who is this?" Anaka asks as they turn around.

"Looks like that prisoner some how got up and came to help his friend. I guess we have to kill him after all." He aims his sword at me but I jump back in time to dodge it.

"Don't underestimate me," I say throwing the two containers at his feet, causing an explosion. He falls to the ground and I see blood pour out from his legs onto the ground.

"Damn it! Anaka heal my legs before they get away."

I'm not going to give him that chance as I run to Genis and undo the straps holding him to the wall. Even in the dark room, I can see the pain he has been through. I still see a red liquid running down the wall.

"Thanks Tiger."

"You okay?"

"Not really, but well enough to get out of here." Jason is trying to get back to his feet, but he quickly falls, obviously not fully healed

I take off for the door, before Jason can get back on his feet and come after us again. I look behind me, and notice Genis is at the other side of the room. Doesn't he know the door is this way?

He notices my glace and runs back to me. "Sorry, I had to grab my kendama."

I guess him having a weapon like that could help. After all, if he can harness his magic easier, it will help us get out of here alive, and in my book, staying alive is normally a good thing, although, I have absolutely no idea how to do this. "Any idea of how we can get out of here?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "Maybe if we can take one of them prisoner, he can give us instructions."

"Good plan," I say as we continue running, looking for a vulnerable target.

"I've found them," a guard says.

That's what he thinks; now we have him. I try harnessing the mana around us for my fireball spell, but I still can't seem to grab any. Oh well, Genis should be able to take him down with out me.

Except for the fact that he isn't along for long. Soon though, an army nearly a dozen strong surrounds us, and there is nowhere to run. This is bad.

_

**A/N: It's been less than a month since my late update! Another battle is coming, so will Tiger be useless this time, or just get in the way? I've decided to incorporate some of the events and characters from the second game, but Tiger's knowledge is limited to the first. Hopefully I can update soon and thanks for reading and reviewing.**


	5. Chapter 5: Can't we get a break?

Chapter 5: Can't we get a break?

The soldiers surrounded us, their swords drawn, ready to strike. "Keep the silver-haired one alive, he is too valuable an asset to lose." What about me? Don't I deserve to live too?

"Yea, we won't go down that easily, Thunder blade!" A giant sword of lightning appeared over us. It had to be over 10 feet tall and slammed into the ground, slicing through one of our enemies. The lightning burst through the ground sending a powerful shock through several more unfortunate to be near the attack.

Genis ran toward one who had survived the attack, jumped into the air and kicked him in the face. He grabbed the sword out of his hand and tossed it to me. I carefully caught the hilt. Now would be a good time to know how fight. "We can't use magic here."

"Wait, why? You just used a spell."

"They gave us some kind of drug making it impossibly to gather mana. The only reason I could use thunder blade was because I had charged it into my kendama before," he explained as he barely dodged a sword aimed for him. "We're going to have to fight hand to hand here." I tightened the grip on my weapon wondering how in the world I could defend myself. Well, only one way to find out!

One aimed his sword at me, which I raised my blade to block, but his superior strength allowed him to push my blade back, sending it into my shoulder and knocking me to the ground. I barely rolled out of the way to dodge a stab aimed for my heart, but I saw a path of blood along the ground where I had rolled. The sight of my own blood on the ground was appalling, but this wasn't the time to let my queasiness get to me.

My shoulder was throbbing, telling me to stop and heal it, but I knew I couldn't focus on the pain in a time like this. I got up and slashed my sword at my enemy, but he easily blocked it. As he deflected it, I thought I saw an opening so I aimed my foot for his chest but he merely grabbed it out of the air and tossed me to the ground. He thrust his blade at me, which I was barley able to block. I got up, trying to put some distance between us. He we clearly stronger and more skilled then me, so I did the only thing that seemed logical; I threw my sword at his chest. He had started running at me, causing him to be completely off guard as the metal pierced his chest.

The blood flowed from the wound, covering the metal floor in a crimson river. He fell to the ground, trying to pull the blade out of his chest, but his strength was fading too quickly. He glanced up at me and I could see the pain in his eyes. I knew he wanted the pain to go away. His life began to fade.

I backed up, and turned away. There was something about a dead body that just freaked me out. Sure, I knew that death was a part of life, and that I was only defending myself, but even so a dead body just seems so unnatural. I looked up at the other soldiers and was amazed to see that Genis was fighting half dozen enemies, in hand-to-hand combat. As one swung is sword at him, he dodged it, thrust the ball of the kendama into the foes face before jumping, and kicked the soldier in the stomach sending him into two of the others. In the game, he always stayed behind the others but after so many fights, I could see how he would have learned how to fight with out magic, but I never would have guessed he'd be this strong.

I was broken out of my thought by the sight of a soldier charging at me. I grabbed my sword out of the corpse causing its flesh to splatter around the ground. I couldn't bring myself to look at the face of the one I had just slain, and ignored the gruesomeness of the scene. Instead, I just gripped my blade, ready to fight once again. He pulled back and thrust his blade toward me, but I dodged to the side and swung my sword at him again. Sadly though, I couldn't match his speed so he blocked my attack. He spun, slicing his blade across my right thigh before I could react. The searing pain caused me to drop my sword. As I looked down, I saw blood flow down my leg. It was my blood…

Focus Tiger, ignore the pain and defeat the enemy.

I used as much strength as I had but he blocked this attack even easier. He pushed my sword back and the force of it threw me onto my back. The soldier stood over me ready to deliver the final blow. Maybe I could use the same trick as before. I grasped my blade and thrust it at him forcing him to take a step back. "I won't go down that easily," I yelled at him.

"A novice swordsman had no hope of getting out of here alive." Sadly, he was right. I didn't know how to fight, but I couldn't just give up. Was I just going to die here? No, there had to be a way out.

I stabbed my sword into the ground and used it as leverage to once again rise to fight. I changed at him once more, but he easily ran his sword through my left side. "When will you give up?"

The pain was more than I could take. What was I thinking? I don't know how to fight; I avoid confrontation whenever possible. So how would it be possible for me to even stand a chance? It's over.

I hear a scream, causing me to turn and I see Genis had just been slashed across the arm. He was gripping it, trying to hold the blood in, but to no avail. The crimson liquid flows out covering his hand like red paint. I have to try doing something.

Ignoring the pain the best I can, I run toward him, but my leg gives out and I fall to the ground. I hear several more slashes go through his flesh. It's over; there is no way we win now.

"Root of all creation, grant us the breath of life. Revitalize!" I've heard that before…

Soon the floor was covered in magic runes, and the pain in my body faded. My wounds where blood was flowing out like a river now closed. I looked beyond our enemies and saw Raine holding her staff, but she wasn't alone.

"Tempest Beast!" Lloyd called spinning through the air, colliding with the soldiers around Genis and knocking them away. He held the duel blades of fire and ice. "Now," Lloyd said pointing a blade toward the few standing enemies, "Which of you bastards hurt my friend?"

Our foes began quacking in fear as they backed up. However, one stood his ground and tried to rally his comrades on. "It's only one swordsman, how strong can he be?"

"You fool," another one said, "I'd recognize that red outfit anywhere. It's Lloyd Irving, the hero of world regeneration."

"I see some of you know of me. You should also know I won't show mercy to those who hurt my friends." Lloyd charged at them, and with movements so swift and skillful that my eye couldn't follow, three corpses fell to the ground. One turned to run, but was quickly run through with Lloyd's sword.

As Lloyd pursued the fleeing enemies, Raine continued using her healing spells to mend our less serious wounds. She also used recover, freeing us from the poison that crippled our ability to use magic. Once we were fully healed, and Lloyd made sure no enemies were following us, we continued finding our way out of this prison.

_

"You okay now Genis?"

"Yea, thanks for saving us Lloyd. I don't think we could have held out much longer."

"I was impressed though. Maybe you should fight close range like I do."

"I think I'll stick to blasting things from afar with magic, and letting you get beat up."

"Thanks Genis…"

"Anytime Lloyd."

_

How long must we walk through these same metal corridors. Did they hire a decorator whose specialty was boring? How did anyone manage to find their way around here? My legs felt like they were going to fall off with all the walking we had been doing, but according to Raine, we were near the exit. I hoped that by near she meant about 7 seconds, but I have a feeling it would be longer.

Not to make this time completely unproductive, I decided to practice with the mana manipulation. Repeatedly gathering the energy in my hand and releasing it made it easier to control. It was starting to feel more natural. After all, the odds were good we'd run into more enemies by the time we escaped so I wanted to be not a complete deadweight. In the past hour of traveling, I found I was able to gather it without too much difficulty now, but probably not fast enough to be helpful in battle. It would be something at least.

"So, you're a swordsman too?" Lloyd asked seeing the sharp metal object in my hand.

"Not really. This was the only weapon I could find during the fight. I'm just lucky I didn't kill myself with it."

"Well, when we get out of here I can teach you some of the basics. I don't know how good of a teacher I would be though."

"I'd be honored to learn for you. Thanks."

"Dwarven vow number 1: We must all work together for a peaceful world."

"Well Lloyd," Genis said, "If you're going to train him, you might want to use wooden swords."

"Why?" we both asked.

"Well, it wouldn't surprise me if Tiger cut his arm trying one of your artes."

"Y'know what Genis?" I paused for a second trying to think of the perfect come back line.

"What?"

"You are probably right." I had to admit, coordination is not my friend. Back at home, I confounded many of my friends with the ways I managed to hurt myself. "You willing to give me a few more magic lessons Genis?"

"Sure, maybe I can get you to be somewhat competent."

"Works for me." With the help of these two heroes, maybe I could defend myself well enough to fight my way out of a paper bag. Then maybe I could figure out what in the worlds was going on.

I still couldn't believe how incredible Lloyd was with his swordsmanship. The dance of his blades as he cut down those enemies was truly a work of art. It was as if his blades were a mere extension of his arms, while my sword was only a tool. If I could wield a blade adequately and know several spells, I'd be able to defend myself. I doubt I could be as strong as the heroes, but that didn't mean I was completely hopeless.

"This should be the last door before the exit," Raine said as she opened the door.

"That's as far as you go," an elderly man holding a staff said. He had long white hair and I sensed something from him. It was a great power, but how I knew this, I did not know.

"Who are you?" Lloyd said pointing his blade at the old man.

"You break into my base, kill my men, steal my prisoners, and then have the gall to ask for my name? You humans are so arrogant"

"So you're the commander here," Raine concurred.

"Yes, you may call me Lord Orion. Now, if the half-elves would come with me, I'll forgive this little trespass."

"How bout this," Lloyd countered. "You get out of my way, and I won't kill you for hurting my friends."

"Lloyd," Genis quietly said, "That's a pureblood elf, a powerful one at that."

"It's four against one, how hard can it be?" I liked the way Lloyd thought, but I had a feeling Genis was right; this wouldn't be an easy fight. I began gathering mana in my hand. If anything, I could distract him, making an opening for the others.

_

A/N: Some of you might have noticed I switched to past tense for this. While present tense can make the story better, this is much easier to write for me. Also, I've been trying to keep Tiger from turning into a Mary-Sue, but I'm not sure how well I'm doing at this.

Anyway please review, I know your out there, and if you don't then, well, I'll be sad…

Also, I won't be able to update this story for a couple weeks, which I'll explain next chapter…


	6. Chapter 6: Orion

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait on this, I admit it took longer than I thought. Enjoy…**

**Chapter 6: Orion**

Lloyd pointed his sword at the elf that was confidently standing in the middle of the room. Genis and Raine began charging their spells, readying for the coming fight. I wasn't sure what the best course of action for me would be. I was sure that my magic wouldn't be enough to do much, and if I tried using my sword, I'd last about two seconds, if I was lucky.

Apparently, the swordsman saw my apprehension and turned to me. "It would probably be best for you to stay out of this fight," he instructed.

"I want to help though," I protested, trying to feign courage, but I knew he was right. It was true that I didn't want to just be a burden, but I had to admit my weakness. "I understand; I'll stay out of your way."

"I'll be back soon," Lloyd said with a smile as he charged at the elf.

"Your arrogance will be your downfall," Orion proclaimed as brown runes surrounded him for a brief second. Before Lloyd could react, spears burst forth out of the ground, nearly impaling the duel swordsman. I couldn't believe how fast Lloyd could dodge when I saw him jump off the first spike of what was obviously grave. He managed to use the spell to propel him even faster at Orion. Lloyd swung his blade down at the elf, but his staff blocked it. I would have thought the swordsman would easily cut through the wooden staff, but somehow it held firm. "Not bad," the elf said as he smirked, "but now you're mine."

I felt powerful mana fill the air around Lloyd, and obviously, he felt it to, but before he could get away, the ground came up and latched onto his leg. I couldn't just stand there doing nothing, so I began charging my fireball. Even if it wasn't much, I had to do something other than just stand a watch.

Looking over, I saw Genis about to unleash his spell, but with Lloyd in the way, he couldn't attack yet. I thought about charging at Orion to separate the two but even if I could have done something, we were too far away to save our friend.

"Thunder Arrow!" Orion called as the spheres of lightning appeared in a triangle around Lloyd. Within seconds, an incredibly bright flash of lightning consumed him.

It took what seemed like forever for the light to finally die down, but once it did, we could see Lloyd on the ground with Orion happily standing over him. I couldn't believe that someone would be strong enough to take Lloyd down so fast. "He's still alive," Raine said, but that didn't ease my fears any, especially with the elf heading toward us.

"Stay back!" I yelled.

"And what does a pathetic Halfling thing he can do?" Orion replied arrogantly.

That was enough. How could he just destroy so many without feeling any remorse? I would make him pay! He might think he was so strong with his spells, but he wasn't the only one who could use magic.

I concentrated on the energy all around me, and the mana flowed through my body, filling me with a sense of joy and power that nothing could stop. This is what it's truly like to wield magic, to command nature to bend to my will. The mana sang as it flowed through my body, but it begged to be let out, for me to unleash its great power.

I pointed my sword forward and funneled the blaze through it. The incantation came naturally from deep within. "Oh flickering blaze burn, fireball." I unleashed the most powerful spell I had ever cast right at the elf sending a concentrated ball of fire at Orion. I couldn't believe that someone such as me could have access to that kind of power.

The fire soared after him, but he made no attempt to dodge it. Instead, he just swung his staff down at it, easily dissipating the attack. I fell to my knees, exhausted after using so much power in one attack, but it was completely pointless. "Is that seriously the best you can do?" he said scoffing me. Unfortunately, he was right. That was everything I had. So much for being helpful.

I looked up, expecting him to counter attack, but instead I saw the dust and debris from around the room surround him. It started circling him faster. The mana in the air tinted the attack a light green, and I looked to the caster beside me. "Thanks for the distraction," Genis said, as I turned my glance to the mighty cyclone spell. "He was completely off guard." Maybe I wasn't completely useless after all.

On the other side of the room, I could see a circle of blue runes with a red clad swordsman rising from the ground. He mouthed a quick thank you to Raine before running back into battle. Genis' spell had calmed down, revealing the elf that appeared to have gotten through the attack mostly unharmed.

"Not bad, but I wouldn't expect anything less from you," the elf said as he began charging another spell. This time white runes appeared beneath him, and the concentration of mana around him signaled this would be the most powerful spell yet.

"Raine, we have to stop meteor storm," Genis said to his sister, who nodded in return. They canceled their attacks and ran beside each other.

Instead of using two different spells, it looked like they were combining their magic together, judging by the unified rune under them. That could only mean one thing; they were using prism stars.

Lloyd slashed at the elf, but the concentration of mana seemed to be protecting him while he cast. If this was anything like the game, we just had to hit him enough times and we could disrupt the attack, so I ran at him and began slashing with my sword. No matter how I attacked it just bounced of his mana shield, but that didn't stop me. I kept swinging my blade, knowing another strike could make the difference between a victory and defeat.

"Go!" the two other half-elves said, signaling their attack. Lloyd and I jumped back to avoid being caught in the crossfire (with me nearly tripping over my feet). The many shards of light tore through Orion. The brightness of the attack made it nearly impossible to see but through the blinding light, I caught a glimpse of blood running down his white robes. There was no way he could still be able to cast through something like that.

"Infinite power, grant me my strength."

Crap…

"Meteor storm!"

Double crap!

The giant fireballs began falling from the ceiling, pounding the entire room. I heard Genis scream in pain, signaling he was hit, a second before Raine too fell to the mighty blast. Lloyd and I tried running, but there was on way we could escape the meteor about the strike us. The swordsman shoved me forward as the attack connected. However, it wasn't enough to completely save me.

As the meteor fell, likely crushing Lloyd, it exploded sending shards of flaming rock at me, slamming me back several feet and into the nearest wall. With the exception of the flaming earth embedding itself into my skin, flying wasn't too bad; it was the landing part that hurt.

I pushed myself off the wall, freeing my left arm from the impact. If it weren't for the maniac about to kill us, I'd probably be worried about the snapping sound coming from my body. I was pretty sure that losing feeling through my body wasn't a good thing, but I guessed that was due to the blood loss. My legs soon gave out and I fell to the ground.

Through the pain, I gazed around, trying to see if any of the others had been able to dodge the attack. Sadly though, Lloyd was unconscious behind me, and both Genis and Raine appeared to be knocked out as well.

So, to sum up are situation, three heroes of world regeneration were just knocked out, leaving me the only one awake to face the most powerful mage I had ever seen. Granted, I hadn't seen too many mages, but we're screwed either way.

"Not bad, I'm surprised you are alive after that," Orion said as I used my good arm to try standing again. Maybe by some stroke of luck I would instantly learn a mystic art and destroy him, being the hero and saving my friends.

"Oh lightless tempest from distant regions," he began the incantation. I don't think I've ever heard this spell before. The probably meant that it was a spell so powerful that only elves could use it. "Stretch out thy tenebrous arms and lead my enemies to their eternal slumber." He held his staff and it felt as if all light in the room was being devoured by the darkness at the staff's tip.

I was able to get back to my feet, knowing I had to find a way to stop him. I saw my sword on the ground, so I ran to it, and charged at him. However, after only a half dozen steps, my legs went numb and I collapsed to the ground. All I could do was look on helplessly as he finished his spell. "Black hole!"

"Oh holy power of light, protect those I hold dear, Guardian burst!"

A light spell came from seemingly nowhere and battled the darkness for control of the air. The colors of white and black filled the sky, intertwining into one another, but soon the light surrounded the darkness and the two faded away.

I looked behind me, and saw Sydney standing in the doorway, pointing his sword at Orion. "Sorry I was late; he had more guards than I thought."

"And just who do you think you are?"

"I am Sydney, a guardian of truth, and your new opponent." He sent out four orbs of light from his hands, which honed in on the heroes and me.

The light filled my body, instantly making the pain dissipate from my body. Now I was able to get up easily, as if I was never injured, and the heroes of the game did the same. "All right, let's take him down now," Lloyd said.

"I'll handle this alone," Sydney said.

"We have a better chance of winning if we are together?" Lloyd said.

"My light is only able to temporarily dissipate the effect of your wounds, so you should get out of here while you can."

"Do you think you can handle it alone?" Raine asked.

"I think so," the guardian said, but I could tell there was some doubt in his voice, "I'll have to go all out though, so I don't want any bystanders to worry about." A bright light began emanating from his body, only to be replaced by dazzling white armor with hints of blue trim. "Now, get out of here," he ordered.

"And what makes you think I'm going to let them get away?" the elf asked.

"I didn't ask your permission," Sydney replied about a dozen small orbs of light began forming around him. Once the light faded, I saw instead of orbs, they were actually butterflies. I don't think I've ever seen an attack like that. "Now attack my friends."

I wasn't sure what they could do, but I knew better than to doubt the guardian's power, especially now that he had unleashed all his might. The creatures flew toward Orion firing thin beams of light at him.

"Now's your chance, go!" he ordered and the four of us ran out the door, while he stayed behind to fight. Orion tried turning to attack us, but the light piercing him rendered him motionless, letting us out the door

After less than thirty seconds of traveling, we finally reached the exit, which Lloyd nearly knocked down trying to get out.

"Fresh air!" I exclaimed. I don't think I've ever been this happy to see the sun.

"Time to find the reheairds and get out of here," Lloyd instructed as he and Raine led the way. Genis and I ran as fast as we could to keep up with them.

"What about the other prisoners?" Genis asked taking a quick look back.

"We'll come back for them soon," his sister said, "I promise."

With all the pain I had been through, I almost forgot that we weren't the only prisoners, just the ones lucky enough to escape. What had I done to earn the right to escape? I guess I'll have to live up to this responsibility and get stronger so I can actually help.

_

**A/N: It seemed strange that they never showed an elf battle in the game, so I can only guess they would be strong, especially an elder. I must thank the tales wiki for the incantations for the various spells, and every where else I stole information from.**

**Also, the reason it took so long for the update is that I didn't know what some of the elder's spells looked like, but they were in Tales of the World, so I figured I'd get to the point in that, see the spells, then write the epic battle with them. Now review, since more reviews equal faster updates!**


	7. Chapter 7: Trust

**A/N: Sorry about the long wait for this. I'll try to update faster, but no promises. Also, thanks to whatshername429 for betaing this for me. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7: Trust**

The sunlight flickered through the blinds of the room, startling me from my slumber. I tossed the plain white sheets off me and got up; noticing the wooden floor beneath me was cold. I walked a couple feet to the window, where I gazed out over the vast plains before me. The dark blue in the distance was likely the ocean, but I guess that was a several miles away.

It then occurred to me that something was a bit odd.

I had no idea where I was or what I was doing here.

Last I remembered… there was the battle in the base against Orion, we got our butts kicked, Sydney came and saved us, and then we escaped.

Except I didn't recall ending up in this building. It might be a good idea to see if anyone else is here.

I opened the wooden door, causing it to make a slight creaking noise, and I apprehensively walked into the next room. After rounding the corner I saw the heroes eating at a table. My nose quickly detected the presence of what would probably be sausage patties, and waffles covered in a light maple syrup.

"Good morning," I said sheepishly.

"Ah, so he's finally awake," Genis said

"How long have I been out for?" I asked.

"About 15 hours," Raine said calmly.

"I've been sleeping that long?!" I exclaimed, not quite as calmly.

"Yeah, you collapsed while we were running from the base, so I had to carry you to the Rheairds," Lloyd explained.

"Sorry," I said weakly.

"It's all right," Lloyd said calmly, "It only took about five minutes to get there, and then it was easy to hold on to you while we flew here."

"Aw man, I missed flying on the Rheairds," I complained. "I've always wanted to go through the sky on one of those."

"It's a lot of fun," Lloyd said with a smile, "Just don't try going upside down."

"Let me guess, you tried it?" I responded, knowing how the hero's mind worked.

"It was a good thing we were over an ocean," Genis said, "Otherwise Lloyd's head probably would have broken the ground."

"Hey!" Lloyd said, responding to the insult by tossing an orange at the mage's head.

"We need to get going soon," Raine said before Genis could pour a glass of milk on Lloyd's head. "We need to tell the Tethe'allan government about this."

"You think they will do anything to help though? They weren't exactly thrilled about changing the laws about half-elves," Genis said

"Well Zelos should be able to give us some leverage with them, so it might be a good idea to talk to him first," Lloyd said

"That would be the best course of action," Raine said analytically. "It would be best to leave as soon as possible if we want to talk to Zelos before heading over to the castle."

At this Lloyd scarfed down the rest of his food at a rate that defied all reason. And I thought I ate fast. "Lloyd, Genis could you please get everything packed up to leave upstairs, there are a couple things I want to ask Tiger."

"Last one there has to put away Raine's stuff," Lloyd said bolting up from the table with his friend right behind him.

"What do you want to know?" I asked as I nibbled on a piece of toast.

"Tiger, please sit down," she said sternly.

I did as I ran my story though my head to make sure there wouldn't be any inconsistencies. I was from Luin, had lived there most of my life. My parents were farmers on the outskirts of town, and we were traveling through the reunited world when we were separated and that's when Colette found me.

"There is something about you that you haven't told us yet."

"What do you mean?" I responded acting as composed as I could. I felt my cheeks starting to blush and I felt my palms beginning to sweat. Calm down, I just have to convince myself I'm not lying and she will believe me. This is just like that acting class I took.

"Tiger, be honest with me, parts of your story don't make sense, why is that?"

"Most lives don't make much sense when you get down to it," I said shrugging my shoulders. It wasn't a lie; in what logical universe would it make sense for me to randomly come to a different world. If I ever get back, remind me to do as much research as possible on parallel dimensions.

"I see you have secrets you don't want to reveal," she said resting her chin in her hands and gazed across the table at me. "I understand this, but if you are going to be traveling with us, I need to know I can trust you."

"I see how you feel Raine," I said through a sigh, "There are a couple things I can't tell you, but I assure you, it won't put you in any danger."

"And how can I be sure of that? I know that you aren't really from Luin."

"How di-" I cut myself off before I could say something I would regret, "I mean why would you think that?"

"For one, the fact that you had no knowledge of Luin's history, except for that fact that it was attacked by the Desians during our journey, and that we helped to rebuilt it. This could be due to the fact that you were from a poor family."

"Yeah, my parents had to work hard for what little money they had," I said, hoping she wouldn't see through my lie.

"Understandable," she said seeming to relax a bit, "But while you were learning about the history of the world, you seemed to have an unusual amount of knowledge of Tethe'alla for a poor farmer. That combined with the fact that you were traveling across the world seems a bit unbelievable to me."

"So, what do you think I am?" I had to get her to reveal what she thought so I'd know, and then maybe I could find a way out of this

"I haven't figured that part out yet, but I have some suspicions. The fact that the only knowledge of history you seem to have about the world is about the Journey of Regeneration seems suspicious. At first I thought you might be a spy sent to keep tabs on us."

"Do you still think that?" I asked, trying to see where Raine was leading me. Keeping someone as wise as her from getting me in a corner was proving difficult.

"It's still a possibility, although I'm starting to doubt it. If you were a spy, it's likely you would have been stronger during our battles in the base. The fact that you nearly died makes me believe that was really all your strength." Translation: 'A real spy would be able to fight his way out of a paper bag.'

"You're not going to let this go?" I asked, deciding I might as well tell her. If they were going to be protecting me as we traveled, I felt they had a right to know. "You're right, I'm not from Luin."

"So where are you from then?" she asked, and I could tell she was thirsty for more information.

"I'm not from Sylvarant or Tethe'alla either."

"How is that possible?" she asked, trying to make sense of this seemingly illogical information.

"I am from another world, and somehow I was brought here. I really can't explain the details. All I know is that your world, the journey of world regeneration is like a story where I am from. I thought it was all fantasy, and never thought it could be real."

"Fascinating," she said while eyeing me suspiciously.

"I know it doesn't make any sense, but it's the truth."

"That would explain most things," she said.

"One other thing," I said, not sure I should reveal this last bit of information, but figured I might as well. "In my world, before I came here, I was a human, not half elf. I'm honestly not sure what caused the change, but that's why I'm so inexperienced with magic."

She looked down, apparently shocked that something like this was possible. I couldn't blame her, after all, I had just told her about another world, me somehow changing races, and that I had absolutely no idea what's going on.

"You don't believe me, do you?" I asked worriedly. Even though I hated lying to them, I feared what would happen if I told them the truth. The story was so unbelievable that if someone came up to me and told it to me, I'd think they were crazy. After all, what part of being sucked into your favorite video game seems at all possible?

"I have no reason to doubt you. Your story seems genuine, even if it is hard to believe. After learning about Tethe'alla during our journey, I've learned that the impossible can be much more real than I would think."

"I can tell you more about my world later, but for now we should probably leave for Meltokio."

She nodded her head and we got up from the table. I went back to the room where I was sleeping to help them pack. To my surprise, when I got there, they were already done.

"Wow, that was fast."

"Well, we've learned how to leave in a hurry during our journey," Genis said.

"So, you up for flying on a Rheaird?" Lloyd asked.

"Sound's great!" Flying is something I've always wanted to do.

"And don't worry, only two people have ever fallen off while with me."

"That makes me worry even more…"

After carrying our supplies outside, Raine released the Rheairds from the wing pack. Against my better judgment, I got on the flying machine of death with Lloyd, which I must say didn't make me fear for my life as many times as I thought. I was surprised how simple they seemed to be to control. Well, at least Lloyd made it look simple, but that could be he had done this probably a hundred times before. In the middle was a steering wheel, kind of like a car, on the left there was a blue lever, and on the right there was a red joystick

"Okay, so to bring it up, you just pushed the blue lever forward," he explained as we flew up in the air. I couldn't believe it, the wind blowing through my hair, the ground slowly falling out from under us, the bird nearly flying into my face, we were actually flying! Not flying like in an airplane, or even like jumping off a swing, but actually flying, actually soaring through the air. This is so awesome!

"And now that we're in the air, the real fun begins," Lloyd said gripping the red knob that looked more like a video game joystick. "Now you just push forward and we go forward."

"Like this?" I nervously asked grabbing the control, slowing pushing it forward, and to my surprise, it moved forward. The head of the Rheaird pointed down slightly as it flew through the sky. Who needs a car when I have things like this?

"Yep, you got it!"

"So, I just move it to the side to turn it, right?"

"No don't!"

I moved the joystick before he could stop me, and the Rheairds started to turn on its side. I quickly moved it back to the center, glad to have the leg restrainers below me.

"That's not how you turn it," Lloyd informed me. Thanks for the useless information Lloyd… "You have to use the wheel in the center." As he moves the wheel, the awesome flying machine of death turned, just as I thought the other should have done. Why do they have to make these things so complicated?

"This is so cool."

"A lot better than walking and fighting monsters all the time."

Maybe this new world isn't so bad after all.


	8. Chapter 8: Castles are Big

**A/N: This update is part of my celebration for being on the site for 5 years! That's right; on April 30 5 years ago I made this account, so today I have decided to update all of my stories that are in progress. This does not mean that more updates will be coming soon if ever though.**

**And here we have Journey of a Midnight Soul. Looking at some of those stories, spanning hundreds of chapters, I see how big of a commitment it takes to do a story as big as the game justice. Even for a post game SI, there's so much to cover. This was a fun story to work on, and while I don't plan on writing more, at least for a while, I hope you enjoy this.**

**Thanks to Wyntirsno for betaing.**

**Chapter 8: Big Castles and Big Oceans.**

Did you know that castles were big? Like really big, huge, so big that they were just so big that all you could say to describe them was big.

Well they are.

"Wow," I say as I walk alongside Lloyd, Genis, and Raine; taking the sights of chandeliers taller than me, that hung hundreds of feet in the air, holding lots of shiny stones of gold, silver, and other sparkly rocks that I have not learned the names of yet.

"Pretty cool, right?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah, this is amazing." They could never do this place justice in the game. Sure, it was a big place and was easy to get lost in, but there was no way to show everything in here. When I was playing I was only caring about getting to the next place, and after the first couple play throughs, it was just a matter of getting out of here as soon as possible. And sometimes some eagerness to play as Zelos.

Wait… Zelos.

I really don't want to run into that guy.

I mean, sure he's nice and everything… well when he wants to be. And if I was a girl... Yeah, I'd probably be pushed to the side, ignored, as he flirted with Raine or any other girls around us. That would probably be for the best, I could hide with Genis and maybe come up with plans to discreetly shoot some fireballs at his head.

Having magic could be fun after all.

Raine walked ahead and began talking to one of the royal officials apparently finding out that the king was busy at the moment. Lloyd wanted to demand an audience right away, but even for the heroes of regenerations, that would probably end badly, so Raine went ahead, being the most tactful one of our group.

"Man, what's taking so long?" Lloyd asked, bored as ever, even though it had only been about five minutes.

"It hasn't been that long Lloyd, just be patient."

"Yeah, but it's so boring, right Tiger?"

Under normal circumstances I would probably have agreed with Lloyd, but I'm still occupied with how big this castle is. I would probably be bored too, but now I can't help but gaze off into every doorway, imagining the hundreds of rooms that have to lie beyond here.

"We might have a bit of a problem," Raine said as she came back with a look of worry across her face.

"What's wrong?" Lloyd asked.

"Apparently the king went to Heimdell a few weeks ago, but hasn't returned yet."

"Do you think that had something to do with Orion and the half-elves that were held prisoner?" Genis asked, thinking the same thing that I'm sure we all did.

"It's certainly a possibility we should consider," Raine said, holding her chin in her hand, trying to think this through. That would make sense if the elves were planning something, they might want the king out of the way. But why would they do this after so many millennia? Does this have to do with the world reunification?

"So, we're leaving for Heimdell then?" Lloyd asked, getting up and getting ready to leave the castle, which if you did not pick up on, is quite big.

"We probably should try to learn more about what's going on here first, before we go bursting in there," Raine said.

That made the most sense to me. The elder could help us figure out what was going on, and if he were a part of it, could also put a stop to it. Then again, seeing how powerful Orion was, their leader was probably even stronger, and if together we couldn't beat even one of them, what hope would we have against a small army of elves?

"But, we might not have time. If the elves are planning something we need to stop them now. I don't want to see any other people become victims, like Genis and Tiger here."

I was lucky, other than being imprisoned I wasn't in any pain. Although, I can see Genis shudder, and I can't imagine the things they must have put him through. He never complained though, he just fought through it, showing that he was a much stronger person than me. What would it have been like if I was in his position? Would I have been able to help us escape? Granted, I wasn't much help as it was, but still.

"Lloyd might be right for once," Genis said, much to the surprise of Raine. "If the elves have anything to do with this, we have to stop them as soon as possible."

"Very well then," Raine said, obviously not happy with it, but deciding to go with it anyway. It's unlikely that she'd be able to stop Lloyd's stubbornness, and with Genis agreeing with him, there was nothing she could do.

"Okay, let's go then. Tiger, you ready to another fun ride?"

"Um, I think I'll just stick with Genis this time," I said, not wanting to lose my lunch before we go into what could possibly be a hostile environment.

Raine shot me a glance making me think of our conversation before we left for Meltokio, the fact that she didn't trust me, or my story, might make her nervous about me riding with Genis. Though by her own words she said that I couldn't be much of a threat, and even if I was, I'm sure Genis' magic could make short work of me.

Raine dropped her stare, and we continued on our way, greeted by the lush autumn air of the capital.

I remembered as we traveled through the slums on the way here, the hundreds of people who seemed to be gathered around with nothing. I was never one to notice the poor where I lived. Both my hometown and university were relevantly wealthy. Sure, not everyone was rich, but it wasn't like one of those big urban areas where homeless lived among the alleys. Because of that, I never thought much of the poor, I knew they existed, and from time to time I'd give some money to some charity, but I didn't care much. Sure, it was bad, and they were hungry and in need of stuff, but there were other things much closer to me and much more important for me to worry about. As we passed through the slums again on our way out of the town, I catch sight of a couple kids who seemed way too thin trying to get away from a merchant while carrying a loaf of bread.

Sadly, I knew this wasn't just a problem in this world.

But as always, I averted my eyes and kept walking, eventually leaving the city and mounting the Reheard with Genis. We took off into the sky, our sights set toward Heimdell, and nothing else mattered.

…

According to Genis, it took about two hours to fly to Heimdell. It was cool flying, seeing all the ground beneath us just soar behind us. It was like riding in an airplane except that we were out in the open. And while I held on quite tightly, it was kind of fun. Especially since Genis didn't have quite the adventurous nature as Lloyd so we stayed right side up.

After a few minutes we reached the ocean, the pure blue water lying below us and soon spreading out in all directions. It was so clear; I could even see some fish beneath the surface as the waves bounced back and forth. It reminded me of that time I went on vacation in Florida with my family. The way my little brother kept drawing lines in the sand, as if they would stop the ocean from knocking down whatever he was building. Sadly, it never seemed to work.

It didn't matter where I was; the sheer vastness of the ocean always humbled me. Looking beside me, I saw Raine hold on tighter to Lloyd, her fear of water obviously showing. I wondered, with all the flying they did in the game if Raine was always like this. Though I can kind of relate, since I can't swim I'd be doomed if I fell off here.

"Something wrong?" Genis asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well you seemed to grab on to me tighter than before."

"Oh, well you see," I wasn't sure if I should tell him, sure that he'd be surprised that someone as old as me couldn't swim. But I figured it wouldn't hurt anything, maybe he could teach me sometime when we had some free time. Heck, that would be cool; I get transported to my favorite video game, learn magic, and learn how to swim. Granted, I could do without the fights to the death, but I guess we all can't get what we want. "I can't swim."

"Oh,"

"Yeah, I know, kind of pathetic right?"

"Well I guess if you don't grow up near a river or ocean or anything, that makes sense."

"Raine told you where I came from then?"

"Yeah, it's still kind of hard to believe how you got here though."

"I know, I wouldn't believe it either, if I didn't experience it." Although, I keep thinking that I'll wake up and find out that this was all a dream brought on by doing too many math problems, playing too many video games, and not getting enough sleep. Besides, I'd like to go back home at some point, and maybe my mind will just be placed with my body back on earth. I seem to remember some anime's where things worked kind of like that, so maybe that's what it will be like here.

"What's it been like, I mean, trying to get used to everything?"

I hadn't really had time to think about it that much. I mean, it was just get used to it, don't complain, deal with it. Sure, modern technology would be nice, like running water, inside bathrooms, and of course laptops, but at the same time it's kind of nice not having to worry about things like my Facebook status or making sure I respond to every email I get. "I haven't thought about it that much," I finally answered. "I mean, with everything that's been going on, I didn't care that all of our technology was gone."

"Did you have a lot of technology there?"

"Yeah, a lot of what we had seemed to be what you guys would consider magi-technology here. Things like computers are common place back home, even in all of our houses."

"Oh wow, that must be cool."

"It is. Though sometimes I think it can be a bit much. We use it so much I wonder what would happen if it suddenly disappeared."

"You guys would probably react how Zelos did when we got back to Sylverant. Those were some fun times," Genis said as he adjusted the course of the Reheard, and over his shoulder I could see the tracking device that kept us on the right direction.

"I haven't been too bad, have I?"

"Nah, but I guess that explains why you were so quiet at first."

"Yeah, I guess I just didn't know what to do or say. I just tried not to arouse any suspicion."

We rode in silence for a few moments. I didn't know what Genis had going through his mind, but I just wasn't sure what else to say. I wondered if he was afraid at all at going back into Heimdell. They were never friendly to half-elves and even though he saved the world, there was no certainty that it would change with him. And even for me, I was a half-elf now, so I'd probably have to stay out of the village too. Unless Lloyd could convince them that I needed to come along for whatever reason and that I was his friend. I wonder if Lloyd even thinks of me as a friend. Sure, he helped save me from the prison, but was it just because I was with Genis and it made sense to help me too? Would he vouch for me, a guy he hardly knew?

"There's the other continent," Genis said and looking out in the distance, I could see land slowly coming over the horizon. That didn't mean we were almost there, it was a big continent, so we probably still had quite some time to go, but it was a nice break from the infinite sea.

…

**A/N: And lets end it here. We have some things set in motion for the next chapter, and if I do decide to right more, I'll need the time to figure out more of the plot, since what little I had planned I had forgotten. Oh well, this has been a fun story at least.**


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